The Other Zodiac
by ThatOneChickWhoWritesFanfic
Summary: It was the day before Tohru was supposed to meet the Sohmas; but that day, she was getting on a plane to fly to America. Part of a student exchange program, Japanese-born American transfer student Sakana Takahashi meets the Sohmas and discovers they share more than she originally realized...and neither of their families will ever be the same. Rated T for swearing and mild action.
1. Chapter 1

Sometimes I wonder why all these things happened to me. I wonder why I was chosen to live the life I lead. I sometimes wonder that, if I hadn't agreed to take that plane to Japan all those years ago, would she have lived the life I have? Would she have changed them as I have? Would she have met the Sohma family and lived with them as I did? I now know that as I lay here, I want nothing more than to be with them. Now that I've met them, I want to stay with them forever. We have something that is unique to us, which can never be erased. We share a collective scar, one that will never fade; but I would never trade this pain for anything. Because in this moment, I realized that they were the ones who saved me. In this moment, I realized something amazing;

I loved him. I loved him more than anything I have ever known. He was the one I wanted to be with my whole life.

But forgive me; I'm getting ahead of myself.

Hello. My name is Sakana Takahashi; high schooler, writer, and self-proclaimed wallflower.

5'6", light greyish-blue hair, ocean blue eyes. My aunt always called them 'prismatic' but I think they look just normal. I have pale skin, a thin frame, skinny arms and legs. Nothing special at all. Maybe that's why I blend in so well.

No one ever told me it had to be this way. I chose this path for myself, I chose to blend in. I hated attention, hated to be recognized, hated to have people see me; so maybe that was the reason I felt a blush crawling up my cheeks as I stood in front of my new class. I knew Japanese so well I could hold a conversation with a native easily. I wasn't worried about being able to speak; I was worried that I would have to speak.

You see, I'm mute.

Yes, mute. As in, cannot speak. Not one word. Hear, taste, see, feel, I can do all those fine. I cannot utter one word though. I learned to write at an early age so I could communicate; but it was always awkward. I wanted nothing more than run to the farthest seat back in the small classroom, anywhere but standing here with their eyes judging me. I could feel them staring, poking, prodding. I clutched my notebook to my chest a bit harder. The teacher turned from his notes and faced the class.

"Class, this is Sakana Takahashi. She is the American transfer student I was telling you about. She is mute, but she is more than capable. I want you to make her feel welcome." He continued to talk about the cultural differences of America and Japan, how I would need some time to adjust, etc. I looked up from the floor to catch a glimpse at my new fellow students.

The first one I caught eyes with was a black haired girl sitting near the back. She was a physic, that much I could tell from the beginning. She liked to appear cold but loved her friends more than anything. She resented me just a little for taking the place of her friend, who I assumed was on her way to my high school in Seattle. A bit harder to read, but I liked a challenge once in a while.

Next, I looked at a tall blond girl who was sitting next to her. Typical tough girl, but she had a bad past. She loved her friend; hated me too. I caught a name as I turned away.

'Tohru Honda.'

Hmm, I thought. Nice name.

You must think I'm either a freak or a psychic. Well, I'm actually neither. I'm just particularly good at reading people and listening to my intuition. They say eyes are a window to the soul, and I can verify that statement. You can guard your appearance, guard yourself as much as you think you can, but you can never guard your eyes completely. I haven't met one person who can. If you look into someone's eyes, it can tell you a surprising amount about them. The longer I want to look into their lives, the more I can tell which is why I prefer looking at the floor. Their life is none of my business; it's just reassuring to do when I'm nervous about meeting new people.

I continued scanning the class.

A typical range of emotions were flung at me as I made eye contact; hate, curiosity, indifference, and sympathy. When I felt compassion, I stopped.

The thing was, it surprised me. Not once had I felt that from a complete stranger. I looked up and was met with the most pure purple eyes I had ever seen.

Yuki Sohma, prince of Kaibara High.

The name was familiar on my tongue, as I had heard it multiple times from a small group of girls. He was indeed a prince. Gentle grey hair, graceful face, pure eyes, perfect physique. I could almost imagine a golden crown encrusted with jewels perched just right on his head. I looked into his deep eyes, intrigued.

He was formal, kind, calm, collected. Maybe that was why he had shown me some form of compassion. He wanted me to feel welcome here, yet was slightly worried that I would turn into one of his crazed admirers. That was all I needed to know. I should have moved on. In spite of myself I stared longer. His eyes fascinated me. What was I expecting? I have no idea. More reassurance that everything would be fine, added kind words maybe.

Instead, new emotions started to bleed through, like dark red marker on thin paper. Insecurity, insignificancy, hate. The more I stared, the more I became buried in the red. I wanted to turn away desperately, but I was frozen, captivated by his perfect irises. He hated his life; he hated his girly looks even though he knew the entire female population worshipped him. He felt insignificant to the world. Images started dripping through the thick emotions. Yelling at some orange haired boy. Pushing away girls who wanted to hug him. Running through the forest in tears. Watching his friends disappear. I ripped my eyes away from his, panting lightly. I was a despicable human being. How had Iet that spiral out of control so fast? I vowed to never intrude on him like that ever again. I was blushing even more than before, turning my normally cool alabaster skin into a red disaster.

"You may now go to your seat, Sakana. Why don't you sit right there, in the back?"

He didn't have to tell me twice. I walked hurriedly to the seat in the back. It was in the very back row, in a corner next to windows; my ideal seat. I felt everyone's eyes on me, especially Yuki's. I refused to look up and meet them, though. I didn't want to know anything else about him. Even though I could control it, I knew that I would get absorbed in them and wind up uncovering everything about him. I didn't want that at all. I wanted to fade from everyone's memories, until I was just a whisper on the back of their mind. I sat down and placed my tan book bag under the desk.

"Now, class, let's get out our math books and turn to page 65. We're going to work on algebraic equations…"

About 30 minutes later, I had succeeded in standing out again. Even though I tried to disappear, the teacher had called on me more than once; and of course, I had managed to make a name for myself as the class genius.

I guess I hadn't mentioned that I was smart. I hated it; just another way for me to stand out. I couldn't bring myself to act stupid, so I lived with it. It wasn't my fault I could do elaborate equations in my head, or that I could memorize information. So I lived with it.

"Correct, Sakana! Class, you could all learn something from her. Her math skills are exceptional."

I looked down at my desk, mortified. Of course. He just had to say that.

The bell rang for the class to end. I rushed out of the room as fast as I could; trying to make it out before I was stopped by anyone wanting homework help. I made it out of the room before I realized that I had no idea where I was going. I glanced at my schedule. Science.

"Excuse me, but do you need some help?"

I turned around to be met by two perfect pools of lavender.

Yuki. Of course it had to be him. I felt bad for intruding on his personal space, but felt just a bit curious that I shared many of his feelings of insecurity and insignificance. But none of that mattered anymore. I looked at the ground and nodded.

"I can show you where to go, if you would like. What class do you have?" I produced my schedule and handed it to him. "Oh, I have science next too. I can walk you there if you would like." He said. I nodded and started to walk next to him. Another glace at our schedules and I discovered I had every class with him.

Of course.

*A Few Weeks Later*

"…And so, with the monopolization of coffee processing within Charles the Third's court…" the teacher droned on, unaware of how dull his lecture was. Many of the students were either scribbling notes furiously on paper or falling sleep. One girl in the back, though, was sketching serenely in a notebook.

"Sakana? Perhaps you can tell us what Charles the Third decreed?" he said with a smug look on his face, sure she would have to shake her head in shame because she hadn't been paying attention.

Sakana blushed and stood up. Walked shyly to the chalkboard. Picked up a piece of chalk in her slender fingers and started writing on the board.

_Charles the Third decreed that no tariffs be placed on American coffee entering Spain, but any export of hand-cranked coffee grinders to America was strictly forbidden. _She set the chalk down and walked hurriedly back to her seat. She had already memorized the chapter and several chapters after that, which gave her plenty of time to sketch in her notebook and work on her many projects-in-progress. Lots of time for writing, too.

Soon, the class was over. She took time to pack her things, as she had now faded enough that she wasn't even acknowledged for her intelligence anymore. Just another face in the class. Soon, the only people left in the class were her, Yuki, and his cousin Kyo. He was a temperamental, brash, outgoing person and she had avoided interaction with him, as he tended to be accompanied by Yuki. She also avoided them because Kyo was the orange haired boy in Yuki's memory. Another reason she hated looking too far; you could never look at the person in the same way again. She bent down to grab her books. _What should I have for lunch? _She thought._ Maybe just a peach again…I'm not that hungry_. She stood up to leave the class, only to find that she was facing Yuki.

"Excuse me, Miss Takahashi, but I want to ask you something. Maybe over lunch, if you wouldn't mind?" she nodded her head, as much as she didn't want to interact, and followed him and Kyo out of the classroom.

"You see, Miss Takahashi, Kyo isn't doing very well in his classes…"

"I HEARD THAT, YA DAMN RAT!" shouted Kyo from the other side of the table. He was sulking, as usual.

Yuki sighed. "Regardless, you are more than excelling in all of your classes Miss Takahashi. I was wondering if you would be kind enough to tutor Kyo, just until he got his grades up. We would pay you for your efforts, if you accepted."

Sakana blushed. Was there anything that didn't make her do that? She then weighed her options.

She needed the money. Her current living conditions were not ideal, and it would be nice to have a little extra cash in her pocket. And it wasn't that she hated Yuki; she just didn't want to accidentally hurt him any more than she had. And besides, what could go wrong? She slowly nodded her head and stared at the plump peach resting in her hand. They had the best peaches in Japan. She wanted nothing more than to bite into it and have the sweet juice run down her chin and arm, but she was in the presence of other classmates; so she refrained. She took a dainty bite and savored the sweetness on her tongue.

"Excellent. Here is our address. You can come by about an hour after school is over." He dropped a slip of paper in front of her and left the table, along with the less-than-happy Kyo. As soon as they were a suitable distance away, Kyo grabbed his cousin.

"What the hell was that for? Ya realize she could discover the curse, ya know!"

Yuki sighed. "Yes, I realize that, but we had no alternative. You're practically failing in all of your classes. She's the smartest person I know. I thought that maybe she could help."

Sakana stared at the piece of paper Yuki had given her. The house was surprisingly close to where she was staying. She tucked the piece of paper in her notebook.

Sakana walked on a small gravel path, occasionally glancing at a piece of paper that was clutched in her hand. She recognized the path as she had taken it many times before. Soon, a house began to become visible over the trees. A shock of orange hair was discernible on top of the roof.

_Of course. _She thought._ He struck me as a climber._

She walked to the doorway and politely knocked on the door.

She was expecting Yuki, so when a black haired man in his 20s opened the door, she jumped back in surprise. He was wearing a tan robe and had an eager look on his face.

"Welcome, welcome to our humble abode! I assume you are the beautiful young tutor Yuki mentioned?"

Sakana could do nothing but blush and nod her head.

"Well might I say you are the loveliest…"

A book bag appeared from nowhere and smacked him on the head.

"OOOOOWW!" he whined and rubbed his head. "Yuki, what do you have in there? A dictionary?"

"No, I have two of them. Miss Takahashi, please forgive my cousin. He can get carried away. It would be best to ignore him. Please, come in." Sakana stepped delicately into the house and slipped off her shoes. She was still wearing her school uniform, as was Yuki. She went out of the coatroom and stepped into a room with a table and a door off to the side.

"If you'll excuse me, I'll go get Kyo. You can make yourself comfortable at the table and I'll be right back." He said and stepped into a hallway.

Sakana got out her book bag and grabbed her worn notebook. Pulling it out gingerly, she grabbed a pencil and began scribbling in her notebook. Soon, faint voices started to become audible.

"No, ya damn rat! I don't need a stupid tutor!"

"Kyo, you're being rude. She already walked in from town to get here; she's in the house, and probably hearing our conversation. You are going to sit there for a couple hours and you are going to like it."

They burst through the door, Yuki grabbing Kyo by the collar and dragging him into the room. He set him down on the opposite side of the table from her and sighed.

"See, Kyo? Miss Takahashi walked all the way here. I think you should show her some respect."

Kyo crossed his arms and looked away. "Yeah, whatever. Let's just get this over with."

Sakana set her notebook on the floor and set a note card in front of Kyo.

_Which subject do you want to work on first?_ It read.

Kyo shrugged. "I dunno. Math, I guess."

Sakana got out her math book and pointed to a question.

*About an Hour Later*

_...and you carry the 5, multiply it by the parenthesis, and you should get 32 w_rote Sakana. Kyo was surprisingly smart. He got each equation after only about a couple tries. She watched him look at her work, observing it, trying to figure out how it worked. He then looked down at his paper and compared.

_Kyo _she wrote. _You did great, and are improving a lot. The only thing you forgot to do is multiply everything inside this group of parenthesis by 2. Otherwise, it looks great._

Yuki entered the room. "Have you made any progress, Miss Takahashi?"

She smiled and wrote _yes, lots. Kyo is actually very smart. What time is it?_

Yuki glanced at the clock. "About half past 5."

Sakana jumped up and started hurriedly collecting her things. She quickly wrote a note on a piece of paper. _I didn't realize the time! Sorry but I have to go. I will see you at school tomorrow. _She handed him the note and ran out the door. At the sound of the door slamming, Shigure popped his head into the room.

"Well, she left quickly. You didn't scare her off, did you?"

"No," said Yuki. "She just said she had somewhere to be."

"Hey, what's that?" said Kyo as he pointed to a dirty notebook on the ground next to the table. He picked it up. On the front, in faded print, it read;

_Idea Notebook_

_Property of Sakana Takahashi_

_If Found Return to Sakana for REWARD_

_**DO NOT OPEN OR READ UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES**_

"Oh no," said Yuki. "If she finds out she lost it, she'll be worried sick."

"Oh well," said Shigure. "There's nothing we can do; not at this time of day anyways."

Yuki stared at the notebook in Kyo's hand. "I can run it to her. She couldn't have gone far. It won't take but a minute."

Kyo shrugged and handed it to him. "Whatever you say, rat boy."

"Don't be gone long. It's your turn to make supper tonight." Called Shigure as Yuki exited the house into the cool evening air. _She must have walked down the road. I'll start there and hope I catch up with her._

The sun was setting and Yuki still hadn't found Sakana. He was beginning to think she had disappeared when he noticed a small path through the forest on the side of the road. _Well, I've got nothing to lose. Might as well try it _he thought and headed into the forest. It was strangely serene walking down the path. The setting sun lit everything up in an orange glow. He walked down the path and farther into the forest and in spite of himself, started humming a random tune. A little while later, he heard a sweet breathy voice just barely audible above the chatter of the birds.

(Mountain Sound by Of Monsters and Men; watch?v=s5Ff6EmA2CU)

_I heard… them callin' in the dis-tance…_

_So I packed my things and raaann…_

He immediately suspected the worse. What if she had gotten lost in here and a creep had found her? She wouldn't be able to scream for help. He immediately started running towards the direction of the voice.

_Faaaar…away from all the trou-ble_

_I had caused with my two haaands…_

He ran faster, crashing through the trees and brush.

_Alone, we tra-veled on_

_With no-thing but a shaadooow…_

_We fled_

_Faaar awaaaayyy…_

He began to see a light glow of a candle through the trees. He slowed his run to a tiptoe and looked through the thick trees so he could get a good look at Sakana's attacker. First, he saw an orange tent. Clothes out to dry on a makeshift clothesline. A small stream; and next to the stream, by the clothesline was…

_Hold your hor-ses now!_

_We sleep un-till the sun goes down_

_Through the woods we ra-an!_

_Straight into the mountain sound…_

Sakana.

Her back was turned, but it was most definitely her. She was washing her clothes in the stream, all alone. The singing could come from nowhere else. Her voice was beautiful, light, breathy and sweet, like a flute. She began humming the song and turned around. She froze in her place, stopped humming. It was only then that Yuki realized that he had stepped out of his cover of brush and tree branches and was standing in plain sight.

"You have a beautiful voice," he said.

She paused, as if in thought. Then she looked him straight in the eyes, something she hadn't done in a long time. They spun and rippled like two pools of ocean water. "Yuki…" she whispered. "…What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing."

She blushed and looked at the ground. "I…I live here."

"In the forest!? Why?"

"Well, I was supposed to stay with this girl's family…that's how the exchange works. But her grandfather was remodeling and I had nowhere to go. So I figured…why not just stay out here? I figured with the money I was making tutoring Kyo I could afford an apartment soon."

"It's not safe here. There are landslides, wild animals, and the occasional creep roaming round. By the way…I didn't know you could talk. I thought you were mute."

She blushed again, and reached for something in her pocket. She pulled out a slender silver piece of metal and pressed it and set it back in her pocket. Only then did he realize she had ear-buds in. she breathed deeply in, and then exhaled. "I am. Well, sort of. I have a disease called 'selective mutism.' Whenever I feel threatened or stressed, my vocal chords don't work and I can't talk. The only thing that helps is music…for some reason it helps me relax. But I never talk around other people, even if I do feel relaxed. It's just simpler for everyone to think I can't talk. That way…that way I don't draw attention to myself."

"So what's my exception?"

"It's not like I can pretend. You caught me singing." She blushed even harder, and coughed.

"Are you ok?"

"*cough* Yeah…I'm *cough* fine…"

"You don't sound fine." All of a sudden, he was next to her, reaching out to feel her forehead. Her eyes grew wide and she stepped back.

"N-no, seriously. I'm…"

All of a sudden, a rumbling sound was heard.

"Miss Takahashi, get back!"

Yuki ran over to Sakana's side and pushed her out of the way as a massive landslide covered the tent. They landed with a splash in the stream.

Two puffs of smoke rose out of the water.

*End of Chapter One*

Me; Next chapters key words are Fish, Family, and Zodiac!

Kyo; what the heck does THAT have to do with anything?!

Me; you'll have to wait and see…

Hey guys! Sorry for the long chapter and the cliffhanger. If you liked it, if you hated it, if you didn't care about it, review! Pleeeease!

Chapter Two Sneak Peak; 

"Hay Saka! What's new?"

I looked up from my desk to be greeted with the most vicious mane of red hair ever and glowing blue eyes. I would know those features anywhere. I had lived with them for pretty much my whole life.

"Sasori? What are you doing here?"


	2. Chapter 2

_**A/N; hey guy! Just a few things I forgot to say in the first chapter! One; I don't own Fruits Basket! If only I did…*sigh.* Two; I don't own any of the songs in here either unless I say I do. I do, however, own my characters. Three; I will sometimes have names of songs and YouTube links up; if I do, you can highlight the YouTube link and listen to the song if you want. Four; I'm not going to use titles like 'Onee-Chan' and stuff because I honestly have no idea how they work. And four; this will follow the anime, not the manga! Some events will be similar, especially when the OC's are meeting FB characters.**_

_**Alright, on with the story! **_

Yuki did not think before he placed his hands firmly on Sakana's back and pushed her out of the way of the coming landslide. He didn't realize what he was doing until he felt her struggling against his body as they fell to the ground. Caught in free-fall, she futilely shoved against him in a desperate attempt to free herself; but gravity was a powerful opponent. They slammed into the ground with a small thump.

And for a moment, a single second, their bodies were pressed together on the hard dirt ground. He felt his skin mix with hers and, just for an instant; her blue eyes looked into his. They radiated fright.

Two puffs of smoke rose from the ground.

Yuki couldn't see anything but his clothes entombing his body as he shrunk in size and turned into his zodiac form; the rat. Something soft rolled to the riverbank and plopped into the water. Had Sakana fainted from shock? Had she dropped something in fright of what now lay before her? The smoke cleared and he expected to see her frightened face looking at him in disbelief.

The look never came.

Instead, Sakana's clothes lay dejected and dirtied on the ground.

Almost instantly, he began scrabbling around for some sign of her. Surely she wasn't running around the woods naked? Or maybe she changed clothes and ran away, so frightened of his transformation that she decided to disappear. Or maybe…?

He turned towards the river. A small trail was drunkenly scrawled across the landscape to the small stream's edge. And there, circling almost nervously in the crystal clear brook was a fish.

It was a beautiful silvery coy fish, with gracefully thin fins and striking blue eyes. Yuki stepped closer to the fish, cautiously, and risked a few words.

"Miss Takahashi? Is that you?"

Strange? Yes. Impossible? No. He had recently thought that there were no other cursed families besides his, but maybe that wasn't the case. His thoughts were only confirmed when the fish bobbed its body in an attempt to nod. "Miss Takahashi, can you talk?" he asked. The fish wriggled, seemingly shaking its head.

All of a sudden, two billows of smoke rose from the ground.

Yuki had his clothes on within seconds, before the smoke even began to clear. Sakana was not so lucky. A milky white hand shot from the bluish smoke and grabbed a towel that rested on a stump near the river, seemingly for this exact purpose. Another shot out and grabbed the dejected clothes and, before the smoke cleared, she ran behind a tree and changed. As the last wisps of the smoke disappeared on the wind, she stepped out from behind the tree. Dressed in her now dirt ridden uniform, her silvery hair dripped with water. She refused to meet his eyes, instead now looking at her bare feet. Yuki ventured a step towards her; she didn't move.

"So," she said softly. "I guess you know now." Her voice was thin yet quavering; whether from cold or fear he could not say.

Yuki looked to the ground also. "I guess you know about mine too. I didn't know there was a fish in the zodiac."

Sakana looked at him funny. "I didn't know there was a rat in the zodiac either. In fact, I'm sure there's not. What zodiac are you talking about?"

Yuki wrinkled his nose in confusion and surprise. "The Chinese zodiac, of course. What else would I be talking about?"

Sakana widened her eyes and her mouth opened a little in surprise. "I'm talking about the European zodiac," she said. "Does that mean…there are two cursed families?"

A moment of silence fell over the clearing.

Sakana was about to say something when her eyes fell on the huge mound of earth that lay where her tent used to be.

"NO!" she shouted and ran to the mound of dirt and began digging in it. "My picture! I have to get it back!" she cried and shoveled the dirt faster. She weakly coughed with each handful of dirt.

Yuki was soon by her side. He set a hand gingerly on her shoulder and pulled her weak body from the pile of dirt. Too weak to fight back, she allowed him to place his hand on her forehead. It had gradually grown darker and now they could barely see each other as Yuki helped her stand.

"Miss Takahashi, if we don't leave now we won't be able to find our way back to the house. You have a fever and that wet hair isn't helping anything. I insist you stay at my house tonight. We can get your picture back tomorrow." She could do nothing but weakly nod and follow him on the path back to his house. The comforting glow of the house shown out from the trees and by the time his house came into view, it was pitch black outside. Sakana could barely walk and Yuki helped her as much as he dared. She smiled serenely the whole way there and in her fevered haze, she stared up at the stars and smiled.

"I always loved the stars," she mumbled dreamily. "They're so pretty. Sometimes I don't even sleep; I just watch the stars. Do you like stars Yuki?"

He could only smile sadly at her and agree.

"We're home!" he shouted as he and Sakana entered the house. He kicked off his shoes and Sakana looked around, confused.

"Wha'da ya mean 'we?'" shouted Kyo from the living room. Yuki helped a dirtied and fevered Sakana into the living room and laid her on the floor gently.

"That's what I mean by 'we', you stupid cat. She's staying with us tonight. She has a fever and her tent got covered in a landslide."

"Tent?!"

Yuki sighed as he laid a blanket over her shivering form. "I'll explain over supper."

"…so that's why she has to stay here." Yuki said as they ate supper. Shigure rubbed his chin, as if pondering the situation.

"So," he said matter-of-factly. "She can actually talk, was staying in the woods, and she has the same curse as us, only with a different Zodiac. My, my, our little tutor has been a busy girl."

They had made Sakana a makeshift bed in the corner of the living room and she was now lying down while they ate supper as quietly as they could. When everyone was finished they went their separate ways. When Yuki finished he stood up.

"I'm going out," he said and walked to the door.

"Be careful. It's dangerous out there all alone," called Shigure from his study.

"Who said I was going alone?" he said from outside as he walked out.

Soon everyone in the house was silent. Shigure stepped out into the living room one last time. Yuki was still out? He stood in front of the door for a while before he heard Sakana's voice drifting from the corner.

"Thank you so much…for taking care of me." She coughed pathetically a few times. Shigure smiled and sat down next to her.

"It was really no trouble. Anyone would have done the same thing."

She smiled sadly. "Not everyone. Not my parents…"she mumbled.

"What?" asked Shigure.

But she was already asleep.

Shigure stood up and made a mental note to mention this to Yuki when he got back.

_I woke with a start in a cold sweat. Climbing gingerly out of bed, I walked to my parent's room, clutching my stuffed animal fish in my small hands. My white nightgown tripped me as I walked towards the sliver of light. I opened the door and peeked inside. My mom was crying on a chair with my dad comforting her. At the sound of the door opening, her head shot up, her eyes bloodshot and her face streaked with tears._

_ 'Mommy,' I whisper. 'I had a nightmare. Will you make the monsters go away?'_

_ The TV in the corner started an ad for a new airport, with its maiden voyage at the beginning of the New Year's festivals, about 6 months from now. She stared at the TV, and a smile grew on her lips. A small laugh escaped her lips, but it was far from comforting. She turned towards me and, the smile still plastered on her lips, cooed out to me from across the room._

_ 'Yes, honey. Mommy __will__ make the monsters disappear.' She turned back to the TV, watching the commercial raptly. My dad whispered something in her ear, and she waved him away. He walked towards me and led me out of the room._

_ 'Sakana,' he said gingerly. He was the only one in my family who called me by name. 'Mommy is very sick now. She needs to be left alone. Please don't bother her, ok?'_

_ 'Ok,' I said, and walked towards my sister's room. As I entered, I noticed her eyes fixated on the computer, probably watching her animes again. 'Sissy?' I ask quietly. She removes her ear bud and gives me a condescending look. 'Mommy is sick. Will you tuck me in?' _

_ She gave it a moment of thought. 'No. Go tuck yourself in, brat. I'm busy.' She turned back to the screen and shoved the ear bud back into her ear. I walked back to my room and crawled into bed. _

_ 'Oh, Mister Fishy. You'll tuck me in, right?' I fell asleep soon after._

_ It was the beginning of the New Year's festivities. My parents had worked more than normal to be able to afford three tickets to America to visit my aunt. My older sister would be staying at a friend's house. _

_ 'Daddy, the airport is huge!' I exclaimed as we walked towards our gate. I had no luggage except for my fish stuffed animal, which I clutched to my chest. My ticket was clamped in my other hand. At the entrance to the gate, my mom hung back as my dad walked me to the entrance._

_ 'Sakana, Mommy has to go to the bathroom. We'll be right back, okay?'_

_ 'Okay!' I said happily. He crouched down so we were at eye level._

_ 'Sakana,' he said and slipped a thin silver device into my hand. I couldn't read the writing on the back, but there was a cartoon of an apple with a bite out of it on the back. I flipped it over, to discover a dark screen and some buttons. 'Sakana, I love you. We'll be right back, okay?' there was guilt in his eyes, but I couldn't see it._

_ 'Okay, Daddy! I love you! Tell Mommy I love her too!' with that, I ran to my seat and waited patiently for my parents._

_ Last call and they weren't there. I wasn't worried, because he said he would be back. We would visit my aunt and my cousin and everything would be okay. I clutched my stuffed animal in excitement. _

_ Only after the plane had lifted off and was halfway there on the no-stop trip to America did I realize what my mother meant that night._

_ She had finally gotten rid of the monster;_

_ Me._

I woke with a start. Why had I dreamt of that night? It didn't matter now though, it was all in the past. It was light out, signifying morning, and I turned over in my makeshift bed.

A framed picture of my last family reunion stared back at me.

I instantly picked it up. It wasn't my mom and dad or anyone like that because I didn't consider them family. No, this was my real family; the family affected by the curse. We were gathered around a fountain in a lush green park. 13 people were leaning in and smiling, with ages ranging from middle school to adult. I was on the very edge, next to my aunt and my cousin. My cousin had her hand slipped in mine with a flamboyant smile. I had a dreamy expression on my face and was clutching my notebook in my free hand. It brought back better memories, before I had lived in the forest and Yuki found me…

Shit.

I remembered all that had transpired the night before. Shooting up from my bed, I ran out the door only to run into Yuki. He had bags clutched in his hands, a bit of dirt smeared on his hands. With a cheery smile he set down the bags.

"Ah, Miss Takahashi, I see you're awake." He said cheerfully.

"Oh Yuki, I can't thank you enough. It must have taken you all night to get this out." I said, though I was slightly surprised at the sound of my voice. Yuki just smiled. Looking down at my dirtied uniform, I was reminded that I had a test today. "OhNoIHaveToGetToSchoolI'mGonnaBeLate!" I yelled and ran into the living room to grab my things. As I was running out the door, Yuki put his arm out and stopped me.

"Miss Takahashi, you are recovering from a fever. I highly doubt that you will get behind in one day; and not to mention the state of your uniform."

I looked down at my uniform; it was indeed dirty and torn. I sighed and set my bag down.

"I guess you're right Yuki. I'm gonna go back to my tent and relax. Thank you so much for letting me stay the night."

Yuki rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment. "You see, about your tent…well, it got destroyed by the landslide. It was the only thing I couldn't salvage."

Shigure's head popped out from the door. "But, you can stay here! As our BRAND NEW HOUSEKEEPER!" he said in a singsong voice. I instantly blushed.

"Oh no no no! I couldn't stay here!" I shook my head furiously. "I can find another place to stay…"

"Miss Takahashi, please. It wouldn't be any trouble." Yuki said happily. "And besides, we insist."

I blushed even more. "Well, as long as I wouldn't be any trouble…"

Shigure smiled. "Great! We'll move your things to your room right away."

I had been cleaning the kitchen all day. They weren't kidding when they said it needed work. When they finally got home, I had the rice steamer going and a kettle of water set to boil.

"Wow, the kitchen looks amazing." Yuki said.

"We have a rice steamer?" said Kyo.

"Yeah, I found it in the trash. "I said softly. "Well, I've got dinner almost ready. I'm going to take care of something, if you don't mind."

I stepped out of the kitchen and walked up the flight of stairs to my room. I grabbed my picture of the nightstand and, noticing the open window, decided to climb on the roof; even though I'm horrible at climbing. I put it firmly in the crook of my arm and managed to hoist myself up to the roof. Staring at the picture fondly, I relaxed. A few minutes later, I heard someone climbing on the roof. Yuki sat next to me and looked at the picture in my hands.

"Is that your family?"

"Yes; well, the ones affected by the curse anyways."

"Which ones are your parents?"

I knew the question would come, but it stung all the same. "They aren't my family." I said bitterly. _Stay calm_ I thought _or you're going to lose your voice. _

"Why not?"

I breathed in soft and let out the air. Reaching into my pocket, I grabbed my IPod and pressed a random song. I knew if I wasn't listening to music, my voice would give out and I would be rendered silent.

"When my sister and I were born, it didn't seem as if anything was wrong with us. My father was a Takahashi, but wasn't affected by the curse. Why, I don't know. He thought maybe that we had been spared. Well, we hadn't. In fact, we were the polarity of each other; bad luck in our family. Not only that, but I was the last sign of the Zodiac, Pisces, and that made me weak and vulnerable. My mother began to slowly go insane. She wouldn't speak to us, she would only cry and blame herself for the 'monsters' she had given birth to. She decided to get rid of us once and for all. My sister hated us as much as my mother hated her, so when she offered for her to stay at a friend's house permanently, she accepted without a thought. All that was left was me to get rid of. She bought three tickets to visit my aunt, but they didn't board the plane. They abandoned me."

Yuki seemed shocked. "Do you still talk to them?"

I waited for the tears to roll down my cheek, but then I remembered I couldn't cry; yet another disease that plagued my body.

"They got into a car crash and died on the way back from the airport."

He seemed even more shocked, but I waved off the comfort. I didn't want it, didn't deserve it. I wouldn't admit it to anyone, but I hated myself. I hated myself for everything I had caused, for the wake of pain I created wherever I went.

"I didn't care though. By then, my aunt and cousin had taken me in. They lived in a small town in Seattle." I pointed to them on my picture. "They're not related to me instantly, but they were the closest thing to a family I had." I looked back at the picture. "Everyone here is."

"Who's that?" he asked and pointed to a girl a few years older than me sitting in the middle of everyone.

"Oh, that's Akira. She's the head of the family. She lives here in Japan, but always makes it out to our family reunions." She sat with perfect poise, and despite the summer setting, wore a traditional Japanese kimono. She had beautiful long silky dark purple hair that was in a ponytail yet still reached to the small of her back and a small amused smile on her face, as if she was calculating the best way to take you down in a fight. Her eyes were calculating and cold, but had an underlying kindness in them. I stood up and headed back to my room's window. "Yuki, supper is probably done. We should probably get down there before it gets cold."

Though it was good to have a day off, I can't say I wasn't happy to be back. In fact, I was already almost accustomed to the way of life here now. Yuki, Kyo, and I headed to our first class. I sat down in my seat at the back of the class and brought out my precious notebook and proceeded to write in it contentedly. So contentedly, in fact, that I failed to notice the new girl in the classroom; I also failed to notice that she was skipping right towards my desk.

"Hey Saka! What's new?"

I looked up from my desk to be greeted with the most vicious mane of red hair ever and glowing blue eyes. I would know those features anywhere. I had lived with them for pretty much my whole life.

"Sasori? What are you doing here?" I whispered so none of my classmates could hear me.

I was truly surprised, but a good kind. Here, in front of me, was my cousin.

She shrugged, but her smile lit up her face. Her uniform looked great on her, of course, and she had yet to tame her bright red hair that reached to her mid-back. Her deep blue eyes had a happy glow about them, and before I could protest, she swept me up into one of her famous bone-crushing hugs.

"Oh, Sakana, I've missed you SO much!" she cried as her arms constricted tighter. I could barely move my arm enough to tap on her shoulder and get her to remove her grip. A couple of gasps later, Yuki and Kyo were looking over curiously. I lead her over to them and grabbed a piece of paper.

_Yuki, Kyo, this is my cousin Sasori, from America._ Sasori smiled and waved at them. She grabbed my arm and whispered to me.

"Sakana, how'd you get two hot guys for friends when you haven't been able to make a single friend for years? Oh, and P.S, I got dibs on orangey." She murmured in my ear. I blushed and shoved her aside. At the sound of the bell, she gave me a wave and rushed to her seat.

It was good to have her back.

After class, we compared schedules. Though we didn't have every class together, we made a pact to eat lunch together. At the ring of the lunch bell, Yuki and I headed to where we would meet Sasori and Kyo. Unfortunately, we were not alone.

There, before us, was the Prince Yuki Fan Club.

I had rather expected a run-in from them, and was quite surprised it had not happened earlier. After their routine theme song, they stood before us with looks of pure anger.

"May we have a TALK with our little friend here?" the leader said. Before she could extract an answer from either of us, she swept me away in a haze of anger and expensive perfume. Once we were behind a corner, she pinned me against a wall and started talking.

"Alright missy, what are you doing with the Prince? He is strictly off limits and besides, we have first dibs on him!" she continued to spout threats from her mouth and with every word uttered from her mouth, I felt myself sinking deeper and deeper into the wall, trying to get away from her. She was about to deliver the final blow when a hand reached on her shoulder. It was far from a friendly move; more like the hand your executioner would put on your shoulder to position your head just right. She turned around to be faced with Sasori. I expected her to be fuming, but instead a look of mock pity was pasted on her face.

"You know," she said, with poison in her concern. "It must have been tragic for your parents, having a child born with an ass for a face. Although, it explains why everything that comes out of that hole," she pointed to her mouth "Is complete shit."

The leader, my tormenter, was utterly shocked.

But before she had a chance to say a word, Sasori had led me away from the group and into the lunch room.

"Hey Saka, what's up with them?" she asked. I waved her away, signifying that it didn't matter. "Oh well," she shrugged. "I guess that, since we moved here…didn't I tell you that? No? Well, we did, so now you can live with us!" she said with flourish. I blushed and shook my head. I scribbled something on a piece of paper and handed it to her. She read it and her excitement rapidly turned to shock. "OH MY GOD! YOU LIVE WIThmmmff…" she sputtered as I clasped my hand over her mouth. After I released it, she was smiling ear to ear. "Oooh!" she giggled. "Someone's getting down and dirty with the teenage heartthrobs of Kaibara High!" she whispered knowingly. I shoved her and blushed as I shook my head. She shoved me back "Aw, Saka, I'm just kiddin' ya. You couldn't get 'down and dirty' if your life depended on it!" she laughed. We sat at Yuki and Kyo's table and soon Sasori and Kyo were having an animated 'discussion' on which card game was superior. Yuki and I were sitting and talking quietly at the other end of the table, with my alternative mode of conversation just to be safe.

_So the Takahashi family originated in Japan, but we spread out all over the world. It was an unspoken agreement that we would retain our Japanese name and that those affected by the curse would have our first names determined by our cursed signs. Mine, Pisces, is the fish, so my name 'Sakana' means fish in Japanese. Sasori, Scorpio, is a scorpion so her name means scorpion in Japan._

Yuki just smiled and gestured for me to continue.

I had a feeling while I was writing; call it intuition call it whatever; but I had a feeling that they would get an opportunity to meet a very wide array of my family members while we were here.

**A/N; well, now I need your help! If you would leave me a review or PM me, you guys get to choose who out of the Takahashi family appears next! I will tell you that you meet Libra and the head of the family for sure, but the rest is up for you. The astrological sign that gets the most requests is the one who will appear next! So, drop your reviews by so you can choose who appears next! Even if you really don't care, any reviews will be appreciated!**


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